More Than a Mutt
by Cloperella
Summary: After Nick and Judy receive news that their hybrid son has been severely bullied once again, the parents will have to dig deep to pull their son out of despair.


While most residents of Zootopia were enjoying their lunch break in the afternoon, the residents of Grapnel Grove couldn't withhold their curiosity of the scene outside. A brown heavyset jackal in a sleeveless undershirt and gray sweatpants stood on his front porch, a massive ZPD police cruiser parked outside his house. A small rabbit officer barely half his size stood in front of him, dressed in her uniform blues and with her black kevlar vest affixed to her upper body. Above each shoulder was a patch with a single silver bar on the end. The neighbors close by knew to keep their distance from the situation, yet such a disturbance intrigued them. Many decided that now was the best time for them to attend to some yard work, while others looked through their windows as if watching an outdoor theater for their entertainment.

The policewoman capturing the neighborhood's attention was Officer Judy Hopps. Though she wasn't a pop-singing celebrity like Gazelle, the officer had become an icon in the city of Zootopia a decade ago. In her first week of joining the Zootopia Police Department, she'd found fifteen missing mammals that the force hadn't been able to find themselves. A few months afterwards, she'd managed to uncover a political anti-predator conspiracy, putting the then mayor behind bars for her crimes. Ten years later, she was still working in the ZPD, taking more than enough satisfaction in dealing with the usual tasks that came with the job.

"So, let me make sure I've got this straight Mr. Miles," the officer said, her eyes scanning the notebook in her paws, "Around nine P.M last night, you decided to light some fireworks that you bought out of the city, in order to entertain your children visiting you. And one of the candles happened to fly astray and crash through the window of Mr. Bovidae's house next door, right?"

The jackal flared his black nostrils and rolled his eyes in irritation. "Weren't my fault," Miles snarled, "I didn't tell the dang thing to go break his window."

"Mhm," Officer Hopps muttered, scribbling some additional notes on the pages in front of her, "Well, let me go ahead and tell you why you're under arrest then: for starters, purchasing and utilizing fireworks unregulated by Zootopia city commerce — "

"That's a load of hooey. They just put that regulation in place so they can tax — "

"Second, the fact that you used these fireworks outside of a national holiday means that you were disturbing the peace for the neighborhood." she continued, her authoritative tone powering through his protests.

"You know how hard it is to keep kids entertained?" the jackal pleaded, anger still in his voice, "If you had kids, you'd understand."

"Actually, I do," Judy replied with a cheeky smile, "I have an eight-year old son in third grade, and I find it pretty easy to keep him entertained without breaking the law."the jackal averted his eyes with a frustrated scowl. "Lastly, that misfired rocket crashing through Mr. Bovidae's window is most definitely destruction of property. And since this is the third time ZPD officers have come out here in response to calls about your behavior, it's pretty safe to say this is the last straw. Now, here's what's gonna happen…"

As Officer Hopps described how the next few hours of his evening would play out, her partner watched the scene through a broken window of the house next door. Sporting a pompous grin, a lean red fox with a bushy tail behind his ankles took satisfaction from the sight of the rabbit putting the obnoxious Mr. Miles in his place. The three-chevroned rank on his shoulder crumpled slightly as he rested his chin on the knuckle of his right paw.

"Should I feel bad that a bunny a quarter of my size has more guts to stand up to him than I do, Officer Wilde?" asked a large wildebeest dressed in khaki pants and a polo shirt standing next to the fox while looking at the same scene.

"Nah," the officer replied, "Judy's got more guts than anyone at the ZPD, especially me. She can take down a rhino if she needs to."

"For real?"

"For real. Anyway, back on topic," he said, putting his notebook back in his right breast pocket, "Do you have the little devil that broke your window here?"

The wildebeest turned about, and lifted a blackened rod off of his burned kitchen counter, handing it down to Officer Wilde. The fox gave an impressed whistle as he examined the object in his paws.

"Looks like a Sunspot," he commented, rotating it in his grasp, "Nasty little jerks, very illegal. I've seen a ton of these before," the officer observed Bovidae's reaction to his words, puzzled at his knowledge of illegal fireworks. "... Other cases." Officer Wilde felt the fur on the back of his neck stand on end, until the wildebeest nodded in acknowledgement. Once a hustler who plotted schemes to rip off the citizens of Zootopia, Nick's life changed for the better when he met Judy Hopps. His job as a con man came in handy as they tracked down vigilantes and underworld connections. With a new outlook on life, Nick resolved to leave his hustling days behind and join the ZPD as Judy's partner. Since then, the two were inseparable, and their bond only grew stronger as the years went by. "So you said that he and his kids shot these off around midnight last night?"

"Oh yeah. He and three other ones about a third his size; lit up the whole yard like New Year's Eve."

Nick shook his head in an irritated fashion, "I don't like that. I don't care if he's trying to keep them entertained; he needs to set an example for his kids, not disturb the peace for their own fun.

"You're preaching to the choir, officer," Mr. Bovidae replied with a grin, "You got a kid yourself or something?"

Much like the lights of a Gazelle concert, Nick's eyes brightened up, an excited grin spreading over his face. "As a matter of fact, I do!" Nick replied, his paws flying to his pocket and pulling out his wallet, then opening it to a small collection of pictures within. The first picture on top showed a young male cub with light brown fur, wearing a red t-shirt and blue shorts, holding a plastic sword in front of him. Though the majority of his body resembled a fox build, he possessed a number of qualities that made him stand out. His pointed ears stretched several inches longer than most canines, enough to hang over the back of his head and down to his neck. They were brown like the rest of his body, but with a mix of gray and black fringes on the ends, matching the short poofy tail sticking out beside him. His long muzzle had a tiny pink nose at the end of it, and his feet were long and angular, perfect paws for boy wore a bright and happy expression on his face, his mouth wide open along with his brilliant blue eyes in ecstatic joy.

"Aw, that's adorable," Mr. Bovidae commented, looking at the photo, "How old?"

"Eight. He'll be nine in four months."

"Boy's got some long ears on him," the wildebeest observed.

"Sure does. He gets them from his mother," Nick replied, tilting his head toward the window. Mr. Bovidae directed his gaze toward the view outside, where he saw Officer Judy Hopps still arguing with the stubborn jackal.

"Mother?" he asked, his eyes darting back and forth from the rabbit to the fox, the gears in his brain turning bit by bit, "Wow! That — that's awesome!" Nick beamed with pride, cycling through the other pictures in his wallet, "So, what do you call something like that?"

"We call him J, short for James; named him after my dad."

"Yeah, but I mean, what do you call a…?" The wildebeest paused in thought over the question in his mind, then shook his head, "Nevermind. That's really cool, I'm happy for you guys."

While putting his wallet away, an energetic tune rang out from Nick's vibrating pocket. He reached into his pants and pulled out the black rectangular smartphone, looking to see the name _School_ on the screen, "I'm so sorry, I've gotta take this," he said to Mr. Bovidae, his digit sliding the _Accept_ button into the center of the screen before lifting the phone to his ear.

"Hello? Yes, this is Nick Hopps," the officer said in response to the voice on the other end of the line. The smile on his face began to fade while listening to the voice speak to him, "I'm sorry, say that again?" he asked, turning away from the wildebeest in front of him. Listening to the voice again, the pupils in Nick's eyes shrank. His face became petrified, losing any sensation as he processed what he'd just heard. After a few seconds of silence, the noise from the phone's speaker brought him back to his senses, "Y-yes, I'm still here," he replied, forcing himself to stay composed. "Is he okay? Mhm. Yes. My wife and I are on duty right now, but we'll get there as soon as we can, hopefully within the hour." Nick took the phone away from his ear and pressed the red button to disconnect the call.

"Is everything okay?" Mr. Bovidae asked the shaken looking fox. Nick shook his head.

"Not really. But it's our business," Nick lifted his paws and ran them over his face, doing what he could to keep his nerves in check, "I've got to wrap this up. Anything else you need to tell me about this incident, Mr. Bovidae?" the wildebeest shook his head in reply, "Okay, good. We're gonna take Miles with us to the station; you send some pictures of the damage to your insurance. Probably a good idea to show them to your neighborhood association, make a case about how residents like Mr. Miles might hurt the real estate value, hint-hint." Nick advised as he stepped backwards away from the door. He pointed his digits like a gun toward the wildebeest, clicking his tongue in a playful manner. Turning away, his internal grief resurfaced to his face. Nick jogged in a hurry across the lawn, where Judy was still arguing with Mr. Miles on his front porch.

"Sir, Zootopian law isn't going to compensate you because you don't know how to entertain your kids," Judy said, her voice brimming with fortitude, "You can spin it however you want, but —" Judy found herself interrupted by the touch of Nick's paw on her shoulder. When she turned to face him, Nick motioned his paw toward himself. Judy leaned her head toward him, while he cupped his paw over his muzzle and her ear.

"J's in the nurse's office," he whispered to her, "It was Kyle."

At once, Judy's heart dropped into her stomach. Over the years, her optimism became something of a trope amongst the ZPD and their circle of friends. Even the most hardened and stubborn of criminals never shook Judy's mood. The news she just heard was one of the few things that could crush her spirits. Despite the worry squeezing at her heart, she kept her composure. She nodded in silence to Nick, before turning back to the jackal at the door.

"Turn around," she ordered, grabbing her pawcuffs, "You're gonna get in the back of the car, and we're taking you to the station. You have the right to remain silent; anything you — "

"I ain't goin nowhere!" Miles growled, baring his sharp, dirty fangs, "If you think I'm gettin' in that oversized toy car, you can —"

"I am not gonna tell you again!" Judy roared at the top of her lungs, "You have the right to remain silent, and buster, I suggest you use it!"

Mr. Miles's rebellious spirit shattered in an instant under her commanding volume. With his short tail tucked against his backside, he turned about and let Judy cuff him as she continued reading him his rights. After boosting him to the backseat of their squad car, Nick and Judy shut the door and scampered to the driver and passengers seats at the front.

"Get a hold of Clawhauser," Judy said to Nick, while she turned the key in the ignition and started the car's engine, "Tell him the situation, and ask him if Bogo can find someone to fill in for our shifts."

"On it," Nick said, reaching for the communicator on the dashboard. His paw trembled as he pressed the button on the side and spoke into the receiver, "Dispatch, this is Z dash two four zero, come in dispatch, over." Nick said in a flat tone.

"Hey Nick," a flamboyant voice replied, talking through what sounded like a mouth full of food. "Everything okay, over?"

"Not really. Need you to do us a favor, buddy…"

* * *

A dull tick-tick-tick of of the clock filled the small nurse's office of Elk Elementary school, the minute hand inching its way past the hour hand settled at twelve. Posters with simple advice for healthy habits decorated the white walls throughout the room. At the front of the office, a female pig with a red cross on the front of her shirt typed away at the computer on her desk. The sudden crack of the front door opening made her jump. She looked away from her screen and to the sight of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps dressed in their police uniforms standing in the doorway.

"Hi there, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps," the pig greeted them with an apologetic smile. Both of them turned toward her, their faces stern and cross with worry.

"Where is he?" Nick asked in an anxious manner.

"He's back here," she replied, standing to her hooves and walking them to the back of the room, behind the curtain that kept the young cub isolated from the rest of the room, "All patched up, safe and sound."

The officers looked upon the nylon examination seat. Laying on his side, dressed in an orange t-shirt and khaki shorts, was a small cub with light brown fur. It was the same cub from the pictures in Nick's wallet, although a number of band-aids covering his head and his arms. His blue eyes that were always energetic and full of joy were half-closed and lacking any brightness at the moment. His body remained still and motionless, no reaction to the police officer's presence whatsoever.

"Oh my god," Nick uttered, his voice cracking a bit. He and Judy rushed to the young cub. Nick managed to wrap his arms around the young boy first, Judy jumping off of the ground and onto the seat, before resting her paws on his shoulder, "James, what happened? What did he do to you?" Nick asked, his arm wrapped around his son's shoulders from behind. The cub kept his gaze down and his mouth shut, not even a glance toward his loving parents in front of him.

"Kyle pushed him onto the floor, just wrestling and slapping like boys his age do," the nurse explained, as Nick and Judy kept their embrace on the motionless cub. Judy ran her paw along James' head near his ear, kissing him on the temple, "Otherwise, he's alright."

Nick's ears jumped up at the casual statement of the pig adjacent to them. He glared at her, and relinquished his son from his grasp, before stepping towards the nurse.

"You think he's alright?" he spat back at her under his breath, "Look at him," he instructed, motioning behind him. James remained still in his chair, keeping his eyes down and away from his worried mother who ran her left paw along his head. "He's barely even responding to her. That spoiled llama has been calling our boy names and making him feel like less than a mammal for half a year, and getting away with it. Now he thinks he can get away with hitting him, because nothing's happened to him before this point. You think that's alright?" The pig winced in anguish, averting her eyes from him.

"I'm very sorry this happened. I can't imagine how awful this must feel."

"You bet your tail you can't." he spat back at her.

With her paw still rubbing his light brown fur, Judy kept her eyes on her son, looking for any trace of emotion at all. He didn't seem angry, scared or even sad. His face remained vacant; void and blank.

"Sweetheart, it's mommy," she whispered, her right paw squeezing his arm gently, "You okay honey? Do you want to tell me what happened?" After several seconds of silence, James responded by sitting up and turning his body over to the other side, facing away and leaving his back to her. Judy's heart stung. This wasn't like him at all. James was normally such an expressive little child. When he was happy, he was bright and energetic, playful as could be. Even when he was sad or frustrated, he was theatric in every sense of the word, always keeping she and Nick on their toes. She'd never seen him this way before, completely shutting down on them. Though the cuts on his body seemed insignificant enough, Judy could tell they ran deeper than the visible surface.

"We're taking him home," Nick said at a louder volume, snapping Judy from her thoughts.

"Yes, of course," said the nurse, "That's kind of what I expected. Just be sure to sign him out at the front desk, and you're good to go."

Nick stepped back toward James, his chest rising with a deep breath. "Hey, buddy," Nick said, his voice lighter in tone as he faced his son with an artificial smile, "Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna take you home with us, alright?" The cub turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling away from both he and Judy. "James." Nick said, the pitch in his voice dropping, "Come on. Time to get up. You can lay down all you want once we get home." The cub let out a frustrated sigh, before slumping over the side of the seat and standing on the floor. Nick stood beside him, his paw behind his back as he and Judy escorted him out of the nurse's office. Even when they walked out, James kept his eyes away from them, staring down at the floor the entire time.

Judy's eyes remained fixed on her son's head, remaining in its lowered position. While her heart was broken for him, another feeling started to build within her. She felt anger that something like this happened to him: anger toward Kyle for bullying her son numerous times, toward his bigoted parents who passed on their intolerance to their son. Most of all, she felt anger toward the school itself, for letting the situation escalate to this level, despite she and Nick's repeated talks with their son's teacher. Did they care at all? Did they care that the spirits of a young hybrid cub were in tatters, or did they just care about sweeping these incidents under the rug to protect their district reputation? Judy squeezed her paws tight, her mind buzzing with furious thoughts. She fought to keep herself in check as the trio reached the front desk, several feet taller than she and Nick. They craned their necks upwards, waiting for the bobcat sitting in front of them to hang up the phone and speak with them.

"Right. Right, okay, I'll let them know," the bobcat replied in a habitual tone, "Okay, thank you, bye bye." Taking the phone from her ear, she hung it up on the receiver and peered down at Nick, "Hi there; signing him out?" she asked. Nick nodded in confirmation, "Alrighty, just need you to print the student's name, the time and today's date, then your signature."

"I'd like to speak to the principal," Judy declared.

The secretary looked at Judy with surprise as she leaned down to pass the clipboard to Nick, who stared at his wife with the same expression. "Um, I believe Principal Victoria is in a conference right now."

"She's gonna put it on hold, or reschedule it," Judy ordered without a hint of retract, "Tell her that Officer Judy Hopps needs to have a word with her."

The secretary pursed her lips, processing Judy's demand. "Right. I'll see what I can do," she replied, before picking the phone back up and pressing a sequence of buttons.

"What are you gonna do?" Nick asked, his paw scribbling the needed information onto the sheet in front of him.

"I'm gonna see if she and I can figure something out, to make sure this doesn't happen again," she said, looking at her son with his face still glued to the floor, "Because this will not become a regular thing for us."

".. Alright," Nick replied with an understanding tone, before lifting the clipboard up, and the bobcat taking it from his paws. "We'll wait in the car. Good luck." Nick leaned down and kissed Judy on the top of her head. "Come on J, let's get going," Nick said to James, "Let's see if we can find something to listen to on mom's iCarrot."

Judy watched Nick pat his son on the back, coaxing him to step forward. Her eyes remained fixed on the pair, stepping toward the front doors and into the bright sunlight outside.

"Officer Hopps?" the secretary asked, prompting Judy to turn back toward the desk, "The principal will see you now. Office 108A; go through that door, take the first left you see, and it's the third door on your right."

Judy strolled away and toward the door the bobcat pointed her to. Turning down the hall, Judy walked past the first two doors, then came upon the third with the placard Principal Victoria on the front. Judy knocked on the closed door, her left ear lifting up to listen for any movement inside.

"Let me get that open for you," a chipper voice called to her from down the hall. Judy turned her head to see Principal Victoria, a large cow dressed in a red blouse and a black dress, strolling through the hall toward her and pulling a jumble of keys off of her hip, "Sorry if I kept you waiting. Had to wrap up the conference with some of the administrative staff. They didn't expect to leave on such short notice," Judy crossed her arms and watched the cow unlock her office door. Once opened, they both walked inside, Victoria waltzing behind her desk, and motioning a hoof toward the chair in front of it. "Have a seat."

Judy would have preferred to stand. She felt that sitting would convey that she was more relaxed about the situation than she wanted to imply. She knew however that with her own small size and Victoria's desk several feet higher than herself, the principal would still have to look down at her. With reluctance, Judy hopped up on the chair and sat down, with her right leg crossed over the other, mirroring her arms.

"First of all, Mrs. Hopps, I want to let —"

"Officer Hopps, thank you," Judy corrected her.

"Right, I'm sorry; Officer Hopps," the principal corrected herself, "I want to let you know I'm up to the speed on the situation with young James and Kyle."

"I'm not up to speed," Judy replied in a curt tone, "My son never told us what happened when we came to pick him up. Hasn't spoken a word since he got here."

"Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry, officer."

"Start talking," Judy demanded, "What happened?"

Principal Victoria's hooves tacked away at the keyboard on her desk, her eyes scanning the computer screen in front of her. "Let's see: At eleven twenty, Ms. Saola began a spiel about the diversity and integration of multiple species living in harmony in Zootopia — that's a topic most children in their grade level learn, in accordance with the district curriculum. So, Ms. Saola, their instructor, called James Hopps up to the front of the room, using him as an example of two different species joining to form a special union, that gave birth to a unique existence in the city. At eleven thirty-five, during the student's free-roam activity time, Kyle pushed James to the ground, which caused a disturbance to the students around them. James screamed over and over and threw his paws up over his head, defending himself against Kyle who began slapping him repeatedly."

The principal's countenance of the story stabbed Judy's heart like a rusty dagger. She could just imagine her sweet little son huddled on the ground, hiding under his paws and crying as another child struck him out of hatred. Her trembling paws gripped her arms tight to keep herself composed, forcing herself to listen to the rest of the report.

"The incident occurred for approximately five seconds, before Ms. Saola intervened and separated them, grabbing both of them by the shirts and escorting them out of the classroom. Kyle managed to spit on James' face before she could get herself between them properly. She dropped James off at the nurse's office, before taking Kyle to — well, my office. And that's about all there is to the situation," Victoria took her sight from the computer screen and directed it back at Judy. The officer's eyes remained frozen, her right eyelid twitching and her mouth curled in an intimidating grimace, "I know how upset you must feel, officer; you, your husband and James, I understand."

"Really? I don't believe that," Judy replied in a curt tone, "I believe that if you cared even half as much as I do, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. So here's a suggestion: why don't you quit assuring me how much you understand, and assure me how this isn't going to ever happen again?"

"Okay, that's fair enough," Victoria replied, "Elk Elementary has been implementing mammal merging programs, to make sure no species of predator or prey feels discriminated against. That's why Ms. Saola brought him in front of the class in the first place. In hindsight, that may have not been a good idea."

Judy's right eyebrow raised in a suspicious manner, "Why exactly was that a bad idea?"

"Well, putting your son in the spotlight in such a way might have provoked children such as Kyle to attack him; sort of painting a bullseye on him in a way."

Judy's jaw fell open when the words hit her ears. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, flabbergasted, "It _provoked_ him? Using my son as an example of an interspecies union _provoked_ Kyle to attack him? Like he didn't have any choice in the matter?"

The principal winced at Judy's interpretation of her reasoning. "I could have probably worded that better," she replied in a regretful tone.

"Yeah, no kidding. It almost sounds like you're saying hybrids like my son shouldn't get any attention, or else they're asking for trouble. We both know the real reason you're defending Kyle's behavior."

The principal raised her eyebrows and turned her hooves over in a passive manner. "Please, enlighten me," she replied.

"It's because his parents bought the school, and the favor of you and the rest of the staff with it."

"Mr. and Mrs. Lamoid do not own Elk Elementary in any way, and they don't factor our decision to discipline their son."

"Oh please," Judy scoffed, "They've donated nearly half a million dollars in the past few years their son's been enrolled."

"Do you have any proof of that, officer?"

"The second time James told us he'd been bullied by Kyle, I did some digging on the Lamoids. Before he showed up, this school was ranked near the bottom of the district. He began attending the same year James did, and since then, the school has made so many improvements that it's jumped to the top. Do you expect me to believe the money for those improvements didn't come from the Lamoids passing it to you under the table?"

"That sounds to me like speculation of a large coincidence."

"What other explanation is there for it? Kyle's bullied a number of children over the years for different reasons, and he's never gotten so much as a suspension for it. I believe that if he were a predator whose parents didn't buy favors from the school, you'd be a lot more severe with him."

Principal Victoria's nostrils flared, taking a breath and removing her glasses before wiping them with her blouse.

"Well then Officer Hopps, if you don't think our methods are working, what do you suggest we do?"

"I want him gone," Judy replied, sitting forward in her seat, "Expelled. My son will not live in fear of him while he's attending this school."

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" Victoria asked as she replaced her glasses on her face.

"It's extreme that he's gotten away with it for this long."

"Well, the parents of the other children Kyle's bullied have never suggested expelling him."

"I don't care about the other parents," Judy declared. She jumped to her feet and stood on the chair she'd been sitting in, staring at Principal Victoria near her eye level, "That's their decision with their children; this is _my son._ And this kind of incident will not happen again."

Silence hung in the air for a moment between the two women. Judy's stare across the desk remained strong and unrelenting, while the principal's eyes veered away in thought.

"If I may be so bold, Officer Hopps," she began, "If you feel Elk Elementary isn't a safe school for hybrids, perhaps it's in his best interest for you to relocate him?"

Judy's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What did you say?"

"Young James is the only one of his kind in Elk Elementary. We're doing what we can to teach our students about species integration, but if you're not satisfied with our methods, then you're welcome to find a school that does."

Judy couldn't believe what she heard. She'd disagreed with the the principals methods in the past. Whenever they spoke, Victoria seemed largely concerned with abiding by statistics and numbers, rather than working to serve the students and their families. She never once thought it would get this bad. Just the thought of pulling her son out of school, telling him he wasn't safe there and that they'd have to find a better one hurt her heart. It wasn't fair that they'd have to change their lives because of someone else's bigotry, and a school's unwillingness to do the right thing.

Nonetheless, Judy remained composed. Despite the pain Victoria's words inflicted on her, they gave her some ammunition to fire back.

"So, let me make sure I have this straight," Judy began, "You're saying that James isn't safe in this school, so he needs to leave?"

Victoria frowned in response. "No, I didn't actually say that," she replied.

"You sure about that?" Judy asked, reaching her paw into the space behind her black vest over her chest.

"... Oh no," Victoria muttered when she saw Judy's paw emerge. Inside her grasp, the rabbit held a small pen in the shape of a carrot, small slits on the side to receive sound. Judy's thumb clicked the button on the other side, and Victoria's ears flopped as she heard her own voice ring out from the device.

" _If I may be so bold, Officer Hopps; if you feel Elk Elementary isn't a safe school for hybrids, perhaps it's in his best interest for you to relocate him?"_

"Is that the device you and your husband used to expose Mayor Bellwether all those years ago?" Victoria asked in dread.

"Yep," Judy replied, the tone of her voice raising with arrogance, "It's also how I got him to work with me in the first place. I tell ya, if it weren't for this little bad boy, we might have never gotten married," she reminisced, twirling the pen around her digits, "You know, I bet the Zootopia News Network would kill to have this recording of your statement in their possession, as well as a statement from our family." Victoria winced while Judy prattled on, boasting about the trap she'd snared her in, "What do you think the headline for that story would be? I'm thinking 'Hybrid Cub Bullied Out Of School'. I have a feeling your superintendent isn't going to like seeing one of their schools painted in that light, do you?"

Principal Victoria grimaced with frustration as Judy grinned at her. She knew she'd slipped up. She'd been in too much of a hurry to get Judy to drop the issue, and she'd instead given her ammunition to use against her. With that little orange pen in her paw, Officer Hopps had her by the tail. The cow sighed and rubbed her temples with her hooves.

"I'll get the paperwork started immediately," she replied in a curt tone, "Today's Friday, isn't it? Come Monday, Kyle Lamoid will no longer be a student of Elk Elementary."

"Thank you," Judy replied with civility. She fought the urge to pump her paw in triumph, knowing that rotten little llama and his pompous parents would finally get what they deserved. "I'm sure that paperwork will take a lot of your time, so I'll let you get right to it," she said, jumping out of the seat and strutting toward the door.

"Officer Hopps?" the principal asked, stopping Judy in her tracks. "Just letting you know, the school might experience a decrease in funds this year. This means we might not send out our annual Christmas packages to yours and other students families."

Judy snorted in humor, "I'm sure we'll find a way to survive without stale cookies and dollar store candy canes, Ms. Victoria." The principal flashed her a facetious smile, before lowering her head to the forms on her desk. Judy left the office and closed the door behind her, strolling back to the front lobby of the school.

Approaching the front doors, a bit of weight lifted from the rabbit cop's shoulders. She took some satisfaction that action was being taken to prevent this tragedy from happening to James, or any other cub in the school. Even with her small victory in mind, she still had an additional hurdle to climb. Her eyes focused on the red Zooburu ahead of her, where she saw her husband in the front passenger seat glancing behind him, at the hidden head of a disheartened half-fox half-bunny cub in the backseat. Letting go of the aggression she'd needed to face the principal, Judy softened her expression, preparing herself for the obstacle ahead of her.

* * *

The Zooburu rolled to a stop near the sidewalk of Fangsley street, and the engine ceased humming when Judy turned the keys. Her drive home had been a silent one, the only words uttered from she or Nick trying to coax their son in the backseat into talking to them about the incident. Not a word was spoken from the young fox-bunny hybrid;his gaze remained low, underneath the view of the window. The family stepped out of the car, sauntering to the fourth identical white house from the corner of Fangsley and Kibble. With his jumble of keys in his paw, Nick slid one of the silver rods into the slot, and unlocked the door.

The trio entered the living room, a quaint little area lined with a soft blue wallpaper. Potted plants sat in front of the peach curtains over the windows, and two dark red sofas were parked over the rug on top of the tile floor throughout the home. In front of the micro-velvet couch, a wide, flat-screen TV with a movie player and a video game console hooked up to it from the back.

"You hungry, J?" Nick asked, after hanging his keys on the front mantle near the door. He and Judy looked down to the cub, still keeping his eyes low and shaking his head. "Are you not hungry because you already ate lunch at school, or not hungry because you're in a bad mood?" James still kept silent, not even the slightest reaction to Nick's remark. The fox looked up to his wife, a forlorn expression on his face. He was running out of options to shake his son out of his trance, and he looked desperate for help.

"James," Judy began, stepping toward the cub just a foot shorter than her, "Look at me," she commanded him with a hint of rigor. The cub looked up at her with his vacant blue eyes, the only emotion present in him a hint of agitation. "I know that you're not in the best of spirits right now. We're not expecting you to be starry eyed and bushy tailed after getting in a fight when you did nothing wrong. But we're not gonna let you shut down on us like this, okay?" Judy lifted a paw and rest it on her son's shoulder. James looked at it for a moment, but dropped his gaze back to its previous downward angle. "Look, I had a little chat with the principal while you and Dad waited in the car. She told me she's gonna expel Kyle from school."

"Really?" Nick asked in a whisper. Judy nodded her head.

"Mhm. So, you don't have to worry about him hurting you anymore."

James shook his head in defiance. "It doesn't matter," he muttered. Both Nick and Judy stared wide-eyed at the first statement he'd spoken since they'd arrived at the nurse's office, "Kyle's friends were watching and laughing the whole time he hit me. They'll just take his place when he's gone. And they're not the only ones. Other cubs, their parents, other mammals; I'm not a normal animal to them. I'm a freak. A mutt."

Judy looked in shock at her son after his remark. She heard a stuttering breath from behind James, and looked up to see Nick's lips trembling, along with the bottom of his eyes. He opened his mouth to try and speak, but his voice gave out to a frog in his throat. He lifted his paw to his eyes and shuddered, taking small gasps of breath as he sobbed.

Nick loved James, more than anything in the world; both he and Judy loved him equally, but Nick held a special pride for him. Before meeting Judy, Nick had resigned himself from the idea that he'd ever be a father, unlike Judy who believed for most of her adult life that she would have a child at some point. The day James was born, Judy remained awake enough for Nick to snuggle up with her in the hospital bed, both of them cradling the newborn cub together. She saw in his eyes the same proud look of joy from when she'd pinned Nick's ZPD badge onto his uniform more than a decade ago. Since then, James became Nick's number one priority in life. Judy had brought Nick out of a sea of despair when they'd met, and he'd used this second chance to prove himself to be more than a shifty lowlife that most of Zootopia thought him to be. This new life, their newborn child, became another testament to Nick striving to rise past his stereotype..

Seeing his son in such a broken state stabbed Nick in his heart. He knew how it felt to lose faith in himself and other animals after facing such harsh discrimination. Judy experienced a similar incident when she was younger, but Nick had been hit harder by his ordeal than she. Nick whimpered and sobbed to himself, keeping his eyes hidden under his paws. It wasn't often that Nick cried, but when he did, he was down for the count. He tried too hard to keep it all inside, so when it came bubbling to the surface, he struggled to process it. Judy on the other paw was no stranger to her emotions. Even if she was bawling, she could keep her thoughts in line and say what was on her mind. Though her vision became blurred with tears of her own, she looked down at her son and kept both paws on his shoulders.

"Sweetheart, please don't say that," she squeaked out, the moisture in her eyes seeping down to her gray fur, "You are not a freak. Some animals in the world just want to hate what they don't understand. They don't know any better, and they're gonna put down anyone else who's different from them, because they're insecure about themselves." Judy choked a bit as she spoke, keeping her grip firm on her son. James closed his eyes and trembled, his long ears laying back against his head.

"You're a good boy," she continued, sniffing through her congested nose, "Your grades are amazing, you're smart, you're funny, you have so much talent in all sorts of things. And you have mammals in your life who love you, and care about you, and just want the best for you. Your father and I will always love you, no matter what," Nick continued sobbing, crippled by his emotions, "Not only that, but your grandma Olive loves you. And your grandparents Bonnie and Stu, they love when you come to visit them. All of your hundreds of aunts and uncles, whose names you can't remember, they love you too. So does uncle Gideon and uncle Finnick; they think a fox and bunny hybrid is the coolest thing in the world."

James' constitution began to break under his mother's' reassurance. His eyes were shut tight, his lips curled back as he winced. His legs began to shake, until he fell to his knees, leaning forward into his mother's chest. The cub began to whimper, his body trembling against her.

"It's not fair," James bellowed, losing any restraint he'd held a moment ago, "I didn't do anything…"

Nick stepped forward and took a knee behind James. He wrapped his arms around his son and his wife, resting his chin on his son's head as he held them close. James continued to cry, and Nick brushed his paw over his shoulder. He kissed the top of his head between his long ears, doing his best to soothe his son.

"Why do they hate me?" the cub cried, his frail voice shaking as he whimpered, "I didn't do anything to them. Why can't they leave me alone?"

"I know it's not fair, buddy," Nick said, fighting to regain some composure, "You didn't ask for this life, and you don't deserve the crud it gives you. I'm sorry you have to put up with it." Judy brushed a paw against Nick's trembling shoulders while he spoke. "You can't give up though," he continued, his voice less shaky than before, "You can't let them get to you. You've gotta fight hard, even if you're just fighting for the right to exist. I know it's tough, but you're not in this alone. Your mom and I, and the rest of your family, we will always be behind you. We will always support you, no matter what." James kept his face buried against Judy, but his whimpers became softer and less frequent. "We love you, J. You're the best thing that's ever happened to us."

A few minutes passed with the Hopps family locked in place. A few sniffles rang out from each of them as they let the remainder of their sorrows pour out. Eventually, the cub between the two parents took his head away from Judy, his eyes red and the fur underneath them soaked.

"There you go. Deep breaths," Judy uttered while she stroked the back of his neck. James' chest rose and fell as he breathed in, little sobs still creeping out now and then. She wasn't happy to see her son in tears, but it was a vast improvement over seeing him stoic and emotionless. She felt a bit reassured knowing her son was stable enough to feel emotion at the moment. "Doesn't it feel better to get it all out?" The cub nodded in a feeble manner, as Judy wiped under his eyes with her thumb.

"Geez Louise," Nick groaned, his voice still cracking somewhat, "Who started chopping onions in here?" Both Judy and James chuckled at his remark, seeing the fox wipe his eyes in a hurry.

"There you go, there's a smile," Judy said, kissing the side of his face and giving him a hug, "No more holding your emotions in. It's not good for you, okay?"

"Okay," the cub replied with a weak smile.

"Speaking of holding emotions in; did I ever tell you how your mother and I met?" Nick asked, lifting his sleeve to his eye. James shook his head. "Well, now's a good time as any. How about we get a box of tissues, dry up and we'll tell you all about it?"

"Can't I just play Bleat Fighter?"

"Nope! It's storytime," Nick affirmed. James groaned with frustration in response. "I know; you got into a fight at school, and now you gotta listen to a boring story about your parents. Worst day ever, right?" James rolled his eyes, confirming his father's presumption, "Come on, it won't be that bad," Nick assured him, with a playful fist to the arm, "After the story, I've got something cool to show you."

James' eyes widened, and his ears jumped up with interest. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's a surprise! Can't tell you yet though, gotta hear the story first. Come on, let's sit down."

The Hopps family picked themselves up and relocated to the sofa along the far side of the living room, in front of the television. Judy picked up a box of tissues on the stand next to them, taking a few for herself and passing them to the males beside her.

"Thanks hon," Nick said, before a honk rang out from his nose into the small cloth, "Okay, so before I tell you the story about your mother and I, gotta tell you one from when I was a kid," the cub between he and Judy leaned his head back against the sofa, his half-open eyes expressing a clear frustration at him, "Look, I'm not gonna make a sitcom out of this where I spend a bunch of episodes telling you my life story; just gonna go over some keynotes to get a point across."

"Whatever," James replied, shaking his head.

"Alright, so when I was — about your age, come to think of it — I wanted to join the local Cub Scouts in my neighborhood. Now your grandma Olive didn't make a lot of money while she was raising me, but being such an awesome lady, she managed to get enough money to buy me a uniform. Unfortunately, much as I wanted to join, the all-prey troop had other ideas."

James tilted his head in confusion, "They didn't let you in?"

Nick shook his head. "They let me show up, and go through initiation like everyone else; but after I swore the oath, they pushed me down, and tied a muzzle on my face. And I ran away from that place in tears."

James raised his eyebrows in distress. "Why'd they do that?" he asked.

"Because James, there's a stereotype that foxes are deceitful, scheming, and mischievous. So they thought it was okay to haze me, just because I was a fox." As Nick spoke, Judy reached across the back of the couch and rest her paw over his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I pretty much gave up on the idea that prey animals would ever accept me, and decided two things right then: first off, I wasn't gonna let anyone see that they got to me. Second, I decided that if animals like them weren't going to see me as anything other than a shifty fox, then I wouldn't bother trying to be anything else. Sound familiar?"

James' eyes twitched from side to side, reflecting on what his father told him. "That's how I felt after Kyle beat me up."

"Yup. I don't blame you for feeling like that J, I really don't," Nick assured him, "Anyway, I grew up, went to college for a little while, decided it wasn't for me and dropped out so I could earn some money my own way. That's when I met your uncle Finnick, and broke into the hustling business."

"You were a hustler?" James asked. "I thought you were always a cop."

"Nope. Before I became a cop, I spent my days ripping mammals off for my own profit. I was pretty good at it too. Didn't really like my job, but I figured that was my lot in life, so I ought to stick with it. I did the hustling trade for about… ten years or so. One day your uncle and I find ourselves in Jumbeaux's Cafe to start one of our schemes, but big ol' Jerry Jr. refuses to sell us anything, because surprise-surprise, he doesn't trust foxes. That's when your mother shows up." Nick lifted his head, directing his gaze toward the rabbit sitting across from him on the other side of his son, "You want to fill him in on your side, honey?"

"Sure!" Judy replied with gusto, "Let's see, when your father was having his moral crisis after the cub scouts ordeal, I was still learning how to walk," James' brow furrowed at mother's statement, "And I didn't decide I wanted to be a police officer until I was about your age, probably when your dad was in high school."

"Wow," James muttered, his mind processing the gap between his mother and father, "Dad's way older than you."

Nick's eyes widened, and a peeved grin stretched across his face. "Well, thanks son!" he said in a sarcastic tone.

"Wait, dad, that's not what I meant," James said, in a desperate attempt to backpedal his comment.

"No no no, James honey, it's fine," Judy reassured the cub, "It's true; your father is _much_ older than me." Judy looked away from James and toward her husband with a smug grin, "Isn't that right, dear?"

Nick returned her gaze with an annoyed grimace. "I'm regretting giving you the reigns to this story, Carrots," he replied in a flat tone.

"Too bad!" she snapped back, "When I was nine, I was the head of our school pageant, which went over the evolution of animals from their primal, savage ancestry. I thought it would be a fun idea to have us all mention what we wanted to do when we grow up, to show that evolution gave us the freedom of choice. I announced to the crowd that I wanted to be a police officer. Your uncle Gideon heard that, and he thought that was stupid. Well, to be fair, everybody in Bunny Burrow that that was a crazy idea; even my parents tried to talk me out of it several times. Gideon however, he took it a step further. When I stood up to him for stealing something from my friend, he pushed me to the ground, scratched my face, and told me that I wouldn't ever be anything more than a carrot farmer."

James stared slack-jawed at his mother. " _Uncle Gideon_ did that to you?"

"Yup."

"Uncle Gideon, the guy who always sends us home with a pie when we visit grandma and grandpa?"

"Gideon was a very different fox when as a child. It took some time for him to mature, but he finally came around, and he apologized for how he treated me."

"Wow, that's weird," James said in awe, "Both of you got picked on for kind of the same reason."

"We did," Nick chimed in, "Because we wanted to do something different than what everyone expected of us. So when we say that we know how it feels when mammals like Kyle mess with you, I don't want you to take that lightly. We know how discouraging it is when they're trying to keep you in your place."

"Unlike your father though," Judy interjected, "I didn't give up when Gideon pushed me around. I kept pushing myself, and fifteen years later, after actually _graduating_ college…" Across from Judy, Nick bobbed his head from side to side and moved his lips in silence, mimicking Judy's boast. Judy fought the urge to laugh in response, and continued with her story, "I applied for the ZPD academy tryouts. And… I didn't do very well. Failed every test they threw at me. The instructor even told me to give up and go home, but I still didn't quit. I stayed determined to prove her, my parents and Gideon wrong, that I could be something nobody else had seen before. It took me awhile to get there, but I eventually passed, and became an officer of the ZPD."

"'Officer'" Nick said, lifting his paws and curling his digits to resemble quotation marks.

"Huh?" James asked. Judy's smile dropped to a disgruntled frown. She heaved a frustrated sigh before she continued.

"They put me in charge of parking duty my first day on the force," Judy grumbled.

"Parking duty? You were a meter maid?"

The bottom of Judy's left eye twitched in response to that label.

"Where did you learn that phrase?" she asked. James leaned his head toward the fox to his left, who offered a sheepish grin in response. "I told you not not to teach him that," she scolded her husband.

"That's what they're called, honey." Nick defended.

"They are called Parking Enforcement Officers, _sweetheart_." Judy corrected him with intensity. Judy took a breath and composed herself, before resuming the story. "Chief Bogo didn't think a bunny had what it took to be a good police officer, so he put me on the lowest job in the force. The positive side of that is, my first day of parking duty was the same day I met your father. I saw him acting a little peculiar outside of Jumbeaux's Cafe, and decided to follow him in."

"I wasn't acting peculiar," Nick corrected her, "You thought I was up to no good just because I was a fox."

"To be fair, you _were_ up to no good."

"But you didn't know that. You just saw 'fox' and immediately thought 'suspicious'."

Judy opened her mouth to fire back, but then snapped it shut and reflected on his statement. "Actually, you're right," she admitted, "I deluded myself into thinking I was better than other mammals who didn't trust foxes, but there was a small part of me that thought it didn't hurt to err on the cautious side. I'm sorry, honey."

Nick shrugged his shoulders in an easygoing manner. "Water under the bridge. So, your mother said something to Jerry, but I honestly can't remember a single word. Soon as I saw her, I found myself transfixed on how beautiful she was."

"Oh stop it Nick, that's not true."

"No, I'm dead serious," Nick insisted, "I'd never seen a rabbit in a police uniform before, and I thought it looked spectacular on you. Then I noticed your terrific build, lovely face, and these enchanting eyes…"

"Oh, Nick..." A sheepish grin crept over Judy's face as she twirled her left ear and stared at her husband with longing.

"Gross," James uttered, rolling his eyes, "Is there a point to this story?"

"Yes! Yes, we're getting there," Nick replied, clapping his paws together, "So your mother twisted the owner's trunk, and got him to sell the Jumbo Pop to me and Finnick. After she and I parted ways, me and Finnick got right to work. We melted the popsicle down, refroze it into a bunch of smaller popsicles, sold them to a group of lemmings outside a bank, collected the popsicle sticks and sold those to some construction mice as lumber."

"That's… actually pretty smart," James commented.

"Thanks bud. What I didn't know was that your mother decided to stalk me and Finnick when she noticed us during her meter-maiding, so she saw everything we did; and boy, she was not happy about it."

"I was not," Judy concurred, "See, I helped him out because I thought he was a single father trying to buy a birthday gift for his son. I felt a little cheated when I learned that my good intentions ended up helping him carry out a selfish scam."

"What'd you do to him?"

"Well, I couldn't really do anything to him. He had legal documents and terminology loopholes protecting him from the law. All I could do was lecture him about being a low-life ripping off other animals for personal profit. In return, he gave me a reality check. He figured out I was a standout from my small hometown with big dreams of becoming a city cop where everyone gets along. Then he goes on to tell me that nobody cared about my dreams, and that like him, I could only be what everyone expected of me."

"Wow…" James replied, stunned that his parents relationship began with such a rocky start, "What a jerk."

"Yeah!" Judy said with an open smile toward Nick, "You were a real jerk, dad!" With his chin resting on his paw, Nick rolled his eyes away from his wife. "Although, he was half-right. The ZPD didn't care how much I pushed myself to get there; they just saw a small bunny out of its place, and wanted nothing to do with me. That's why Bogo didn't want to assign me to find Emmett Otterton."

"Who?"

"Your friend Robbie's dad, you've met him before. He was missing for more than a week when I started working for the ZPD. When I took the case, there was nothing for me to go off of: no leads, no witnesses, and no resources. Luckily, the one photo of him before he vanished showed that he'd bought a Pawpsicle from your father. So, after digging up some dirt on him, I tracked down your father and _hustled_ him into helping me find Mr. Otterton."

"Actually, what your mother did is called extortion," Nick interrupted with a sly grin, "That's a big word that means she forced me to do something against my will for her own selfish purposes. It's very wrong, and in most cases, very illegal." Silence hung in the air as Judy stared daggers at Nick. A snort escaped the fox, and he began to howl with laughter.

"I did what I had to do, and I don't regret it," Judy replied with a firm tone, "We bumped heads a lot during our investigation, but we made progress. We got close to finding out what happened to him, but I needed to call for backup at one point, and the chief wasn't happy about that. He tried to fire me, but your father decided to stand up to him on my behalf."

"I don't get it, dad," James asked, puzzled, "If you didn't like her, why did you stand up for her?"

"The reason I didn't like her at first was because I felt bad about myself, not getting to be what I wanted as a kid, and seeing your mother trying to be a cop made me want to drag her down to my level. Seeing Chief Bogus chew her out made me realize we were in the same boat, without a paddle. She was trying her best to be what she wanted, and they didn't want to accept her just because of her species. For the first time, I felt connected to her. Because of that, I felt safe telling her the same story I told you, about how the cub scouts bullied me when I was a kid."

Judy's thoughts drifted back to that moment, of she and Nick alone together on the gondola pedaling over the beauty of the lush and humid rainforest district, "Your father opening up to me was the first time I started to care about him," she reminisced, her heart growing warm to the tenderness of that moment, "I still didn't like the way he saw Zootopia and the citizens who lived in it, but I could sympathize with why he thought that way. After that moment, the case became bigger than ever. It wasn't just about saving Mr. Otterton, or keeping my job. It was about rising past the limits other animals tried to place on us."

Hearing his parents sentiment made James reflect on things. None of them spoke a word for a moment, the air heavy with the significance of the events of the past. After some time passed, James cleared his throat.

"So, what happened after that?"

Judy's eyes lifted to the ceiling while she searched her memory. "Well, your dad and I ended up finding not just Mr. Otterton, but all the other mammals that went missing before him all at once." Judy winced as she thought about the events that came afterward: the conference at the lobby of the ZPD, the unrelenting flash of cameras and hostile questions flung at her. Most of all, she remembered look of hurt and betrayal on Nick's face when he called her out on her unrealized prejudice. On top of it all, she'd instigated panic into the city because of her own misguided views. She had to say it though. She couldn't keep the truth away from her son.

"After that, honey, the ZPD held a press conference," she began, her voice and her whole body gripped with tension, "They wanted me to give a statement, and I —"

"Your mom and I only scratched the surface of the case," Nick interrupted. James turned his head toward his dad, and Judy's mouth hung open in confusion. Nick was fast to pat his paw over hers, and give her an encouraging wink that James couldn't see, "We went our separate ways for a few months, but one day your mom tracks me down and tells me that there's more to the matter than we thought. So, after catching up and talking things over, we get right back to work. After finding a secret lab, jumping out of a train before it exploded, and running through the Natural History Museum —"

"Whoa, hold on," James interjected, "What's this about an exploding train?"

"Not important. I'm trying to wrap this boring story up for you."

"An exploding train isn't boring!" James protested.

"Eh, I'll tell you about it another time." James stared at his father with a forlorn expression, the fox paying no mind to the cubs disappointment, "What's important is, we figured out the evil mastermind behind the whole thing, put them behind bars, and several months later, your mother pinned this badge on me at my graduation ceremony," Nick surmised, putting his left paw to the golden trinket on his blue uniform.

"Cool," James replied, swinging his legs on the end of the sofa, "So, what's the point of all this?"

"The point is, Zootopia has a lot of mammals living in it, and all of them have different perceptions of each other," Judy began, "Unfortunately, a lot of them have some bias against other species. It's wrong, but there's not a whole lot we can do about it. It's just something we have to accept."

"However," Nick continued, "Aside from all of those close-minded jerks, there's also a lot of good mammals who know that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Your mom's one of them."

"J, honey, you're gonna have to put up with a lot of crud that you don't deserve in your life, just because you're part bunny and part fox. Not everyone thinks it's okay to have an interspecies family, and they're not going to have a high opinion of you just because of that. You can't let that get to you though," Judy reminded him, placing her paw on James' thigh, "You've got to keep trying. You've got to show them that they're wrong, even if they refuse to admit it; you've got to push past their expectations and be the best mammal you can be."

"I was lucky that your mom came into my life," Nick said, putting his paw over the one holding his son's leg, "I'd already given up on myself, thinking I wouldn't amount to anything more than a shifty fox working the streets for a couple hundred bucks a day. If your mom hadn't pulled me out of the dirt, I might still be hustling now."

A warm smile stretched over James' face as he looked at the paws of the fox and bunny on his leg. They meant every word of encouragement said to him. Their lives were proof that the world's expectations meant nothing compared to one's determination to succeed. Just like they'd supported each other before he was born, they would keep him afloat no matter who tried to push him down.

"Thanks," James replied softly, "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Judy reminded him. The three piled in for a final tender hug, all of them happy and closer than ever. The event that transpired that day brought a large amount of heartache, but their resolve and compassion helped see them through the tragedy, and come out stronger than ever.

"I'm proud of you, bud," Nick said after their hug broke apart, and he rubbed his paw on top of his head, "Now, since you've been patient hearing your folks yap about their past, I got something cool to show you."

"Oh yeah!" James exclaimed, remembering the promise of a reward at the end of the tale, "What is it?"

Nick reached a paw inside the caverns of the space between the arm of the sofa and the cushion he sat on, until it emerged with the TV remote in his grasp, "Found something last night after you went to bed. I wanted to save it for after you came home from school today, but — actually, I still saved it after you came from school, huh? You just came home a little earlier than usual."

Nick's thumb flew across the rubber buttons on the face of the remote, switching the TV on and perusing through numerous menus on their movie channel. After a number of clicks, the image of a giant monster appeared on the screen. It was a dark, scaly creature shown several stories taller than the buildings behind him. His head was flat, his green eyes squinting as his mouth opened and unleashed a powerful blue flame onto the aircrafts flying toward him.

"Dude!" James shouted with excitement, his eyes lighting up at the sight onscreen, "Croczilla!"

"All of the Croczilla movies," Nick added, opening the list of films the channel offered, "From the black and white era before even I was born, to the one they released last year. Pretty cool, huh?"

"That's awesome!" James bellowed. Judy watched her son's exuberant behavior with a polite smile on her face. "Can we watch one!?"

"Of course. But, you need to get something to eat," Nick instructed, "I'm pretty sure we picked you up before you guys had lunch." James' ears slumped back against his head, and the cub winced, trying to formulate a response. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Nick concurred, eliciting a groan from James, "There's still some leftover lasagna in the fridge. How about you heat that up while mom and I change out of our uniforms?"

"Alright, fine," James replied, sliding off of the couch and sprinting toward the kitchen.

"Don't run!" Judy called after him, "It's gonna take a few minutes for us to get changed. The movies aren't gonna disappear if we don't get to them in time." Her words of caution fell on deaf ears, as she heard the sound of a refrigerator slamming shut, and the pitter-patter of paws scampering toward the microwave. Judy rolled her eyes and followed her husband up the stairs and into their bedroom.

"Think you can suffer a Croczilla movie for him?" Nick asked in a playful manner.

"Of course," Judy replied, stepping through their bedroom door on the right side of the house, "Seeing J's face light up like that makes even the worst of those movies tolerable,"

"'Tolerable' she says," Nick shook his head as he unpinned the badge from his uniform and placed it on their large oak dresser, "I don't get how you don't enjoy those movies."

"Because I don't think mammals dressed in rubber monster suits fighting in plywood city models is entertaining?"

"Well, I'm sorry you don't have a soul, Carrots," Nick scoffed. He'd managed to unfasten the first two buttons of his shirt, when he felt a pair of soft paws wrap around his belly, "What's this for?" he asked.

"For skipping over the part where I hurt you, and started a witch hunt against every predator in Zootopia," Judy said as she hugged him, resting her head against his back, "I didn't ask you to do that. I'm okay with my son knowing the truth, that even his mom made a mistake of having a backwards mindset."

Nick lowered his paw and ran it across the gray fur of Judy's wrist. "Like I said, honey: water under the bridge" he assured her, "I knew you cared about me when you burst into tears apologizing to me. Then you risked your life to make things right for the city. You did good, kid."

Judy felt her eyes sting for just a moment, but fought it back. Her family had done enough crying for one day; she wasn't in the mood to start the waterworks again. Instead, she turned the fox around, stood on the tips of her paws, and pressed her lips against his in a ginger kiss.

"I love you," she said, after breaking the kiss.

"Aw, you do have a soul," Nick remarked, drawing a groan from Judy.

"Why do you always ruin the moment?" she asked, tugging on the bit of cream fur poking out from his unbuttoned collar.

"Sorry. Nervous habit," Nick replied in a hurry, "I… love you too." he mumbled, his ears drooping against his head.

"You're so _cute_ when you're embarrassed," Judy whispered. Nick grumbled a bit under his breath.

"Yeah yeah, alright. Come on, get changed. J's probably crawling up the walls downstairs wanting to watch Croczilla."

Judy giggled and released her grip on her husband. Not a day went by that she didn't feel blessed for the treasures in her life. She loved her job, despite some headaches and fears that came with it. She loved the city, even though not everyone living there was easy to get along with. Most of all, she loved her family; there was no downside in that regard. Her husband made her laugh, even when he was teasing her. She could always fire back at him with something, making the game of jeers and jests enjoyable for the both of them. And she treasured their son, a mix of the best of she and her husband. He was a bright and happy child, who loved his family and cherished the life he'd been given. Seeing his joyful face was one of the many things that kept Judy motivated through even the worst of times.

It was even enough to help her put up with a cheesy monster movie with the worst stories and special effects she'd ever seen. Her son's joyful face, and maybe a cup of warm carrot tea, and she'd be more than fine. Judy unfastened the kevlar vest from her body, both the weight of the armor and the worry for her son lifted from her shoulders. She was glad that even in the face of intolerance, her family had the strength to keep trying.


End file.
